There has been some confusion over whether
people who have permits to carry concealed handguns are
as law-abiding as other Texans.

Using the provocative title "License to
Kill," the Violence Policy Center recently released
a report claiming that "those who do carry concealed
handguns get into trouble more often than other
Texans."

While there is cause to wonder whether the
Violence Policy Center overreported the number of permit
holders arrested, even its own numbers don't justify that
claim.

Duting 1996 and 1997, the first two years that
the concealed handgun law was in effect, 163,096 people
were licensed. During that period, 263 license holders
were arrested for felony offenses, and another 683 were
arrested for misdemeanor offenses.

By comparison, if permit holders had been
arrested at the same rate as the average adult Texan,
they would have had 731 arrests for violence crimes and
2,202 for property crimes.

Thus, permit holders were about a third as
likely to be arrested as nonpermit holders and much less
likely to commit serious crimes.

The public's ultimate concern is whether
permit holders have used their concealed handguns
improperly. So let's look at some more statistics to
determine that.

During 1996 and 1997, five permit holders were
arrested for the "deadly conduct/discharge of a
firearm" and another two for the "deadly
conduct/display of a firearm." Those charges were
brought in connection with four deaths.

If permit holders had been arrested for murder
at the same rate as other adult Texans, 56 would have
been arrested.

Equally important, relying on arrest rates
misses an important difference between permit holders and
others who are arrested for murder. While the vast
majority of murder arrests end in conviction, that hasn't
been true for permit holders.

Of the four deaths mentioned, none has
resulted in a conviction. In fact, two so far have been
cleared and deemed to have acted in self-defense.

Thirty-five other permit holders were arrested
for other felony "weapon-related offenses," but
those involved the unlawful carrying of a weapon in
places such as airports and schools. None of those cases
apparently involved threats but invariably resulted from
people who forgot they had a gun with them.

Overall, the experience in Texas is similar to
that in other states. In Florida, almost 444,000 licenses
were granted from 1987 through 1997. About half, 204,700,
currently are licensed.

Eighty-four people lost their licenses after
using a firearm in the commission of a felony.

So far in Virginia, not a single Virginia
permit holder has been involved in a violent crime.
Similar results have been observed in Kentucky, Nevada,
North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and other
states for which detailed records are available.

In December, Glenn White, president of the
Dallas Police Association, summed up the typical reaction
of those police officers who opposed the concealed
handgun law before its adoption: "I lobbied against
the law in 1993 and 1995 because I thought it would lead
to wholesale armed conflict. That hasn't happened. All
the horror stories I thought would come to pass didn't
happen. No bogeyman. I think it has worked out well, and
that says good things about the citizens who have
permits. I am a convert." Harris County District
Attorney John Holmes admitted he is "eating a lot of
crow on this issue. It isn't something I necessarily like
to do, but I am doing it on this." In a forthcoming
book, I find evidcnce indicating that concealed handgun
laws save lives and reduce the threats that citizens face
from rapes, robberies and assaults.

Criminals tend to attack victims whom they
perceive as weak, and guns can offset the differences in
strength and serve as an important deterrent.

People don't even have to carry a permit
themselves to benefit.

The fact that criminals can't tell whether a
potential victim has a concealed gun makes them less
likely to attack people in general.

Without a doubt, people do bad things with
guns, but guns also protect people when law enforcement
officers aren't able to be there.

In the final analysis, one concern unites us
all: Will allowing law-abiding dtizens to own guns save
lives? Unfortunately, studies like those done by the
Violence Policy Center needlessly scare people and don't
move us any closer to answering that question.

(John R. Lott Jr. is the author of "More
Guns, Less Crime" which will be published by the
University of Chicago Press in May.)